Why Doesn’t Lord Voldemort Have a Nose? (& How He Lost it) 

Many Harry Potter characters have very distinguishable appearances. However, the most memorable features belong to the main antagonist himself, Lord Voldemort. His appearance changed from an ordinary man to something that can be described as a reptilian alien. So how did the change happen to him?

As Lord Voldemort delved deeper into the dark arts, his physical appearance started to alter into something that looked like a snake. This transformation caused his nose to change into slits and his face to adapt serpent features. Even his body changed to be extremely thin.

Lord Voldemort isn’t the only wizard who has tried dabbling into the dark arts, yet, it is only him who has changed the most among the wizards we were introduced to in the books and movies. So how did he even look before the start of Harry Potter? Read on to find out what happened to Lord Voldemort’s physical appearance, particularly his nose.

What Happened to Lord Voldemort’s Nose?

Lord Voldemort’s nose eventually transformed into two snake-like slits as his entire body began to change the more he delved deeper into the dark arts. For each Horcrux, he created his soul, and his body got mutilated. Eventually, his nose even got affected.

His appearance has accordingly worsened once he regained an actual body. This might be because his soul got corrupted further as the books progressed. However, we can assume it was a slow transformation, and everything started to disfigure around the same time till they reached their final appearance in the last book and movie.

How Did Lord Voldemort Look Before Losing His Nose?

Before Lord Voldemort took on his snake-like appearance, Dumbledore noted him as a handsome young boy by the name of Tom Riddle. However, as Tom fell deeper into the dark art and continued to split his soul to create Horcruxes, he eventually abandoned his old name.

He took on his new name Lord Voldemort, an anagram of his name, Tom Marvolo Riddle. As Tom Riddle, he was known to be very Charismatic, his looks taking a role in that. While at Hogwarts, he managed to gather students and teachers alike to view things like him eventually.

How Was Lord Voldemort Before His Descent to Evil?

Tom’s father abandoned him and his laboring mother during the time of his birth. His mother gave birth to Tom on December 31 near the Wolf’s Orphanage. However, she died there, leaving Tom unaware of his heritage.

Despite not knowing his background as a wizard, he knew some degree of magic. Prior to meeting Dumbledore, he tormented the orphans with his magic, being somewhat of a bully to them. When he met Albus, he was brought to train at Hogwarts.

While in Hogwarts, Tom was described as a model student, but he has always strived to be out of the ordinary behind closed doors, even as a wizard. He accumulated followers and eventually organized the Death Eaters. Tom managed to opened the Chamber of Secrets and tamed the Basilisk. Basilisk tormented the school, and Tom was never found out to be the mastermind.

However, Dumbledor grew suspicious of Tom and kept a close eye on him for the rest of his student career. This caused Riddle to stop opening the Chamber in fear of getting caught. At this point, Tom created his first Horcrux in the form of his diary. This would eventually begin his descent into the dark arts and the start of his body getting disfigured the more Horcruxes he creates. 

Why Does Lord Voldemort Still Have His Nose in the First Movie?

The process of his transformation was not yet complete. He became more disfigured upon his return to a physical body. In the Goblet of Fire, Lord Voldemort uses the venom of his pet snake when he is reborn, completing the process and resulting in his final appearance in the books and movies. His snake was actually one of the Horcruxes he created, and he needed her venom to become stronger.

How Did Lord Voldemort Lose His Physical Body?

On the night Lord Voldemort and the Death Eaters set foot in Harry’s household to murder him, his Killing Curse backfired, destroying his body. However, because Voldemort’s soul has already been shattered into several pieces, he managed to stay attached to the earth in a ghostly form.

He kept himself alive by continuously possessing animals, mainly snakes waiting till the Death Eaters will find him and help him regain his physical form. However, his soul managed to latch onto Quirinus Quirrell, where he tried to regain his body but ultimately had to retreat back to the forest when Quiiell died.

How did Lord Voldemort Regain His Physical Form?

In his first physical form, before fully becoming reborn, Wormtail had to create Voldemort, a Rudimentary Body, through a potion. While he succeeded, the potion did provide him with a physical form, but the body was weak, and had to rely on unicorn blood to be kept alive. Thus, Wormtail had to bring his body around and always have a supply of fresh unicorn blood to sustain Lord Voldemort’s body until he could be properly revived.

Wormtail, after successfully drawing Harry Potter’s blood, was able to create a potion strong enough to revive the Dark Lord. Lord Voldemort eventually arises from the cauldron where the potion and his Rudimentary Body were placed.

What Happened to Voldemort After He Died?

Because of playing around with the Dark Arts, Voldemort couldn’t pass on and die like any other wizard. So instead, Voldemort’s body was kept in a separate chamber from the Great Hall, no one knows exactly what happened to the body, but fans assume it was disposed of. 

On the other hand, his mutilated soul remains trapped in Limbo for eternity. Because of the damage done to his soul, he cannot move to the land of the dead or become a living ghost. In the movie, his mangled soul looks a lot like Rudimentary Body